On Thursday night, something historic took place in Egypt: The first
televised presidential debate ever held in the Arab world. This was
four-and-a-half hours of real cut-and-thrust on sensitive issues —
involving the role of Islam in public life, the infamous “virginity
tests” performed by security forces, even the candidates’ own
personal finances — between two media-savvy men: former Arab League
Secretary General Amr Moussa, and self-described Islamist moderate
Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh. Eight years after George W. Bush first
declared his freedom agenda for the Arab world, this is the first
solid evidence that modern, mass-media-driven democracy, as a Western
voter would recognize it, is taking root in the biggest and most
influential country in the Arab world.

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Egyptians themselves know how important the moment was: During the
pre-debate show, broadcasters rolled archive footage of America’s
historical counterpart, the 1960 debate between John F. Kennedy and
Richard Nixon. (There also were surreal moments: The show featured
footage from Sarah Palin’s 2008 debate with Joe Biden, and Saturday
Night Live’s 2008 parody featuring Tina Fey.)

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Yet here in the West, the Egyptian debate was treated as a second-
tier news event. The New York Times covered it on page 9. The Wall
Street Journal put it on page 7. This newspaper put it on page 20.
The Globe & Mail didn’t cover it at all. Why?

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The first reason, I’d speculate, is that political developments in
Egypt since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster have been complex, and often
marred by violence. There have been demonstrations leading to arrests
and deaths, which in turn have led to more demonstrations. Last
month, in a major plot twist, the Egyptian Electoral Commission
disqualified 10 of the 23 presidential candidates — including the
Muslim Brotherhood’s high profile aspirant, Khairat al-Shater — for
alleged electoral-law breaches. In short: From the moment Mubarak was
ousted, Egypt’s plot-line has been increasingly muddled. Over the
last year, many Westerners simply lost interest.

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The second reason Egypt is getting tuned out concerns Israel — the
lens through which much Western news coverage of the Middle East is
framed.

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For months, vocal supporters of the Jewish state have sounded the
alarm about political developments in Egypt, especially the rise of
the Muslim Brotherhood. Conservative blogs and media outlets have
emphasized scattered news items — disruptions in Egyptian gas
deliveries to Israel, Egyptian politicians’ comments
about “revisiting” the peace treaty, an Iranian boat passing through
the Suez Canal — that, taken together, suggest an Egyptian swing
toward anti-Israeli militancy. The idea here is that Egypt already
has been “lost” to radical Islam by Barack Obama and the West, so it
doesn’t matter much who actually wins the election.

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In Thursday’s debate, the subject of Israel did come up. But it was
brief and understated. There were no grand Nasserite calls for war
against the Zionist entity — just the typical Arab boilerplate about
the Palestinians.

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In fact, it wasn’t until four hours of the four-and-a-half hour
debate had passed that the word “Israel” was even mentioned. At this
point, Abul Fotouh said that Israel should be regarded as a strategic
enemy — until the creation of a Palestinian state. For his part,
Moussa said he would reconsider Egyptian-Israeli relations — again,
in the context of the Palestinian issue. And that was it for the
Zionism file. Turns out Egypt’s voters don’t care half as much about
Israel as Middle East watchers have been telling us.

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The vast majority of Thursday’s debate was centred, instead, on
domestic matters, including the three most pressing issues for the
country: (a) the Islamic character of Egyptian society; (b) the
economy; and (c) civil liberties, and the treatment of dissent.

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In his opening monologue, Abul-Futouh used the modern Islamist tactic
of citing shariah as a force for social justice — as opposed to just
a set of restrictive behavioural codes. He embraced the slogan of
Tahir Square protesters: “bread, freedom, social justice.” Moussa,
playing on fears that electing an Islamist would lead to a theocratic
dictatorship, countered that Abul-Futouh once had pledged allegiance
to the Muslim Brotherhood. Echoing 1960-era fears about JFK and the
Pope, Moussa wondered aloud whether Abul-Futouh would take his orders
from Brotherhood clerics if he is elected president — to which Abul-
Futouh reminded everyone that Moussa appeared to have supported
Mubarak’s re-election as recently as 2010.

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Both candidates were eager to distance themselves from terror and
radicalism — including jihadi groups such as Gamaa Islamiya. Abul
Futoh made a point of declaring that “Copt [Chrtistians] are equal
citizens like all other Egyptians, there will be no discrimination.”